Confused about new ZI

[captainslack]

I'm trying my best to sort out the lineage of the new ZI, but I think I need a degree in geneaology to figure it out. The body is made by Cosina, right? Which makes it related to our beloved Bessas, correct? But today's e-mail was sent Hasselblad. How do they fit in? From what I've gathered, Zeiss Ikon is an independent company in some way related to Carl Zeiss through the Zeiss Foundation. ZI also owns the rights to the Contax name, correct?

*whew* What a tangled web!! Enough to give one a headache! 😕

 

[dominicLF]

Zeiss signed with Hasselblad as the distributor only. Hasselblad has a great distribution network, so that’s great. Other than that Hassy had nothing to do with it.

 

[back alley]

hasselblad is the u.s. distributor.
cosina makes the body and some lenses.
zeiss makes some of the lenses, i think 2.

not really following closely myself - but it IS a pretty camera.

 

[chug]

Looks good in both silver/chrome and black from the images I have seen on another thread. Looks much better than a Leica 😉

 

[peter_n]

Nah. 😀 The Leica looks MUCH better!

 

[Mazurka]

Zeiss Ikon the camera maker went bust circa 1972. Carl Zeiss AG (part of the Zeiss foundation) owns the Contax name and is resurrecting the Ikon name on its latest collaboration with Cosina.

Hasselblad is the US distributor for the camera. Cosina is the contractor (NOT the designer.) The only common part between the R3A and the Zeiss Ikon is the Copal shutter unit IIRC. Personally I believe they share the hot shoe too. 😛

 

[rover]

The ZI apparently was designed independently from the Bessas. There are some similarities, like the AE lock button placement, but who knows which comes first and which camera borrows from what from the other.

 

[Bertram2]

. The body is made by Cosina, right? Which makes it related to our beloved Bessas, correct?

Not correct. There is the same Copal shutter used and the same lightmeter, that's all.
There are a lot of cameras and lenses made by Cosina, leaving aside the manufacturer no reason to speak of relationships. What has $120 zoom to do with a Nokton ? Decisive is material, tolerances and QM.

Tho some will get mad about it the Zeiss RF will not be a "re-branded cossie".
🙂
Best,
Bertram

 

[Solinar]

I'd bet dollars to donuts that the announcement by Zeiss, to use Cosina to build an M mount rangefinder effectively killed the Contax G2 sooner rather than later.

 

[David Kieltyka]

It's hard to say what the timeline may've been. Did the ZI prematurely kill off the Contax G series...or did Kyocera decide to kill off the G series some time ago, thus leading to the ZI? Dunno... There were rumors of a digital G but nothing concrete AFAIK.

-Dave-